et non sapientior

Words to live by. And not a problem in this instance. (Helps when he even makes them himself.)
Jim Holler, owner of the (daggumdelicious) Doghouse Deli in Downtown Pensacola for 33 years, was offering pointers. Marco had things literally well in hand.
Got a good, Pensacola lunchtime crowd out!! There were tons of pictures before Marco started speaking. It was billed as a National Federation of Independent Businessmen’s event, but it was open to everyone. And they KEPT showing up ~ squeaking quietly through the front doors behind Marco’s back even as he was addressing the packed Doghouse…
…as WELL as making sure they got their pictures taken with him before they let him go! Lots of press, too, so I might have video later. (“What was the guy’s last name that introduced him..?”)
Flashes going off EVERYWHERE and the sidewalk outside wasn’t any safer. (Roger Hedgecock appeared at my side and introduced himself. THAT was pretty cool! “You’ll have a Rubio table at my show tonight, right?” Well…sure…I guess? I don’t have, but 3 bumper stickers left and not a yard sign to my name, but I’m chock FULL of personality…)

My phone started ringing at about 7 this morning, with the press release and my number on the front page of the local section. People asking, “could they come?” Telling them “PLEASE DO!” It’s wonderful to watch folks respond to him ~ folks who’ve never seen him in person. I especially love that part. It’s neat. Called the RPOF lad to see if HE had any signs across town for me, so I could keep “Roger” on a first name basis, and he started whooping as he pulled up, “There’s all sorts of Rubio people waiting outside the building! I gotta go!” So there WON’T be any signs if he HAD any. **sigh** There goes my new bud “Roger”.

But all those folks went straight from downtown to go get themselves a sign. How ’bout that?

The city will change the lettering on every single street sign – at an estimated cost of about $27.5 million – because the feds don’t like the font.

Street names will change from all capital letters to a combination of upper and lower case on roads across the country thanks to the pricey federal regulation, officials said Wednesday.

…The city has about 250,000 signs, and it costs about $110 to replace one, the DOT says. Officials said the new signs will have improved reflectivity and clarity for nighttime drivers.

The changes are among many in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices that regularly changes to improve road safety, highway administration spokesman Doug Hecox said. The mixed upper- and lowercase rule was adopted in 2003, but municipalities were given until 2018 to comply completely, Hecox said.

I note this came about early in the Bush years, but he certainly was no advocate of smaller government.

This is a tale repeated over and over, as the tentacles of government expand into every single facet of our lives.

It has to stop.

We have to stand athwart its path and say “Stop.”

It starts this November, and we must continue to keep trimming for many years to come.

A bill that could wind up severly restricting interstate booze trade—thus raising prices, limiting selection, and generally making the world a dryer place, all while giving the Commerce Clause the heave-ho when it comes to trade in beer, wine, and liquor—managed to win a hearing today from the ready-to-get-outta-Dodge House Judiciary Committee. The legislation in question is the cheesily-acronymed Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act, which would make it easier for state alcohol wholesalers to protect their monopolies.

House Democrats on Wednesday barely won a 210-209 vote to adjourn the House without extending the Bush tax cuts.

Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against adjournment after Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) urged opposition to the motion in a floor speech that said it would be irresponsible for Congress to leave without providing certainty on the tax issue. Dozens of Democrats in tough races voted against adjourning.

“Vote no on this adjournment resolution. Give Congress a chance to vote on extending tax rates,” Boehner said.

The economy is in shambles, so our bold leadership votes to do nothing and go home.

If we re-elect these people, then I will be forced to admit that John Kerry is in fact correct: we will have shown ourselves too stupid to understand what they are doing.

Via our Special Correspondent I have the following EXCLUSIVE photo of the House Democrats leaving after the vote:

“When I go out hunting, it’s really exciting,” (17 year old Jessica) Olmstead said. “Whenever I see a bear I just want to go at it. When you’re hunting, your heart is racing, your blood is pumping, and you feel that adrenaline rush. I really love to hunt.”

Olmstead killed a 448-pound black bear with a Matthews Passion bow and arrow set, designed for women, from a little over 16 yards away.

…”I’m not just saying this because she’s my daughter,” Tim said. “But she’s probably one of the best listeners I’ve every taught. With the bear she showed a lot of patience. She tracked the bear, killed it, and gutted it like a pro, like she’s been doing it for years.”

Terrorists Take Over
September 27, 2010: The government is losing control of many areas in the north, as the drug cartels use their thousands of gunmen to terrorize local officials and media. The army and police have been unsuccessful in regaining control.

But really, we’re evil racists if we want to do something rash and radical like, oh, say securing our border.

NEW YORK (CBS 2) — Shocking allegations of spying levied against pair of 18-year-old students exploded on the Rutgers University campus on Tuesday.

Dharun Ravi of Plainsboro and Molly W. Wei of Princeton were charged with invasion of privacy for allegedly secretly placing a camera in another student’s dorm room and transmitting a sexual encounter over the Internet.

Given how small these cameras have become I wouldn’t be surprised if this sort of stuff goes on a lot.

NEW JERSEY (WPIX) —
A freshman at Rutgers University, first the victim of allegedly being secretly taped during a sexual encounter by two other students, is believed to have committed suicide.

…According to sources, the victim from Ridgewood — whose identity PIX 11 News is withholding — is believed to have jumped off the George Washington bridge on Thursday, Sept. 23. The victim’s car was found nearby with both his cell phone and computer inside.

(Reuters) – FBI agents and several supervisors cheated on an exam about new rules for terrorism and criminal investigations and for collecting foreign intelligence, according to a U.S. Justice Department report released on Monday.

The report by inspector general Glenn Fine found that some FBI employees improperly consulted with others while taking the exam, and others used or distributed answer sheets or study guides that essentially provided the answers to the test.

A few FBI employees, including several supervisors and a legal adviser, exploited a programing flaw to reveal the answers on their computers, according to the investigation into four FBI offices around the country and several individuals.

Sounds like these folks are on track for long, highly lucrative government careers.

Glamorous French politician Rachida Dati has been forced to issue a public apology after confusing oral sex with inflation.

The 44-year-old former justice minister and MEP is frequently nicknamed ‘Rachida Barbie’ because of her poor understanding of complicated political issues.

…Asked about overseas investment funds profiteering during a period of economic uncertainty, she said: ‘I see some of them looking for returns of 20 or 25 per cent, at a time when fellatio is almost non-existent.’

In French, fellatio – a sex* act performed on a man – is ‘fellation’, which sounds a bit like inflation, which is the same word in French and English.

As of 10 am this morning there was a rather long line of economists outside her door looking to further delve into monetary policy with her.

Paranoia was on parade at the Hilton the moment the president checked in on Saturday, Sept. 18. His team took six floors to themselves in the hotel’s south tower, overlooking Tudor City, about 90 rooms in all. More than 20 were just for security.

…The entourage dined in but not on room service. Meals — mostly lamb, shish kebabs, spiced ground meat and basmati rice — were prepared by a Persian restaurant and carried in by Secret Service agents.

A source said the spicy grub made “the whole hotel stink like hell.”

I’m sure.

He also “shared a hush-hush meal with Farrakhan and members of the New Black Panther Party Tuesday at the Warwick Hotel on West 54th Street.”

I wonder if they dined on Hebrew National Franks? I love those things.

And very very loud. It was earsplitting when only a few cars were on the track for the practice laps; I could only imagine what it was going to be like when there were 40.

I found out

When they got the green flag and the 40 of them stomped on it…wow. Thank god we had big honking ear protectors on. The Flip camera was vibrating in my hand. Heh.

Did you ever try to take a picture of something passing you at 140+ mph?

Out of many attempts that was the best I managed.

They put the “Jiffy” in “Lube”

All in all a heck of a lot of fun.

As an aside, on the drive down we saw a few “O’Donnell” posters and no “Coons” ones; the drive back a couple of each.

I was kind of surprised that neither candidate had any sort of presence at all at the track; I know were I running there, especially were I O’Donnell, I would have had folks there handing out literature and selling shirts/bumper stickers, as this was definitely a Tea Party leaning crowd. Seems like one hell of a wasted opportunity to me.

The battle over who owns the phrase “Who Dat” is already in court, and several merchandisers in the metro area received letters saying they are required to pay licensing fees to the company Who Dat?, Inc. to sell anything with the phrase printed on it.

…No one denies that Sal and Steve Monistere and Carlo Nuccio wrote a version of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” performed by Aaron Neville, with the “Who Dat” chant in the song.

But the issue is not who owns the song, but who owns the phrase “Who Dat.”

…They also applied for a federal trademark.

In the ’90s, Who Dat?, Inc. didn’t maintain that registration and the patent office vacated it. At that point, a business man out of New York applied for a “Who Dat” trademark.

The Saints challenged it, and his application is still pending, which is why the patent office refused Who Dat?, Inc’s 2010 trademark application…

And so it goes on and on, over a phrase ~ however irritating ~ that’s been part of New Orleans culture forever, with documentation at least as far back as the 1890’s.

A phrase they couldn’t be BOTHERED maintaining their bs trademark on…until the Saints WON something. Whoops! Wait a minute! Didn’t we say we OWN dat?

Worse, NOW they’re sending pay-or-DIE letters to NOLA artists (like my favoritest Fleurty Girl) who do the cleverest designs with things that have always been part of the public domain in the city: part of the rich patois of handed down, growin’ up New Orleans.

They had an artist and merchant meeting with a lawyer (“Ernie the Attorney” ~ ONLY in New Orleans!) last night that Lauren (Fleurty Girl’s owner) organized on her Facebook page. I checked this morning for a report, but haven’t seen one yet. I’m curious what the prognosis is.

I hope it’s for a big ol’ David and Goliath knifefight. ‘Cause if it is, I’m in.

(Reuters) – New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell more than expected in August to post their largest decline in a year as bookings for aircraft and motor vehicles tumbled, but business spending rebounded strongly, a government report showed on Friday.

PORTLAND, ME (NEWS CENTER) — Police say there were no injuries or damage caused by a chemical bomb that went off in a parking lot near the Islamic Society of Portland.

The bomb went off in the lot between the Islamic Society and Back Bay Grill around 8:00 PM Tuesday night. Portland Police say Islamic elders came forward to tell them that a 13 year old from the Society was experimenting and was responsible for the bomb. Another bomb was also found undetinated [sic].